Pokemon Academy Chapter 1

By: Trevor Shum

Chapter 1: Here we go again

POV: Ocean the Streamott

I tapped my right foot nervously as I waited while sitting at the kitchen table. Waiting is definitely not my strong spot, and I had been doing it for over an hour.

I should probably introduce myself. I’m Ocean, 14, Streamott, middle school education. I’ll be starting high school tomorrow, but for now, I’ll just have to wait for a bit.

After a couple of minutes, I was starting to lose patience. I checked the kitchen clock: 6:30. Any moment now…

“Weeee!”

My little sister Atty jumped onto my lap, squeezing in and sitting down. She’s seven years old and so freakin’ hyper. I groaned as she squirmed around on my lap, and it was at this moment that my mom passed by, preparing dinner. She glanced at the two of us and gave a little chuckle. She gave me and Atty a kiss each. Atty wriggled happily, but I sighed and leaned backwards in my chair. My mom smiled. “Puberty getting to you, dear?”

“Again with this, Mom? I’m just in a bad mood right now.” I replied, my voice sounding tired and grumbly.

“School blues, then?”

I groaned again, but heard the doorbell ring. Saved by the bell. Atty rushed to the door, which was not very smart; she can’t reach the doorknob just yet. I could, though, and sure enough, my dad was standing there.

“Hello, children!” My dad is my personal hero, so it’s safe to say that my mood was lifted. “How was your day?”

“Hey, Dad!” He hugged me and Atty in a classic squeeze-hug. After he released, I was all smiles, and Atty was hopping more than a Work-Upped Buneary.

“Time for dinner!” came my mom calling. And that was that! Dinner was pretty good, but now comes the important part: talking to my friends (all four of them) and planning things over with them. I start high school tomorrow, and that won’t be easy.

I should probably introduce my friends too. There’s my childhood friends, Juniper and Brutus. Both are, so to speak, out of the ordinary. Juniper the Snapling is nice enough, but making her mad is a mistake, which I learnt the hard way. Brutus is also nice, but he’s a very apt fighter, and the strongest 14-year-old I know personally. Then there’s the two that I met in elementary school,, since we were in the same class for a while. Irwin the Caimaul loves to battle, and we have been battle rivals since we first met. And then there’s Marshal the Bogfin, who’s a bit of a mixed bag. He’s nice, and pretty smart, but he’s… a bit weird, to say the least. Like, just trust him, and you’ll be fine. I know, it’s weird. Most people see me as a clumsy, paranoid, and overconfident person, which I mostly get.

After cleaning, I went into my room and opened my laptop. No one was texting, and I had nothing to do, so I sent a text to all of them.

Ocean (7:44 pm): Good luck, guys! Don’t forget anything :)

I added the smiley because I was nervous about forgetting things myself. A few minutes passed, then Juniper texted me back.

Juniper (7:48 pm): Pretty sure you’re more likely to forget…

Ocean (7:48 pm): Hey!

Juniper (7:49 pm): Seriously. Stop worrying about others and take care of yourself first.

Ocean (7:49 pm): Ok then…?

She’s not wrong when she says that. I double-checked all of my bags. Everything was there, and now I had almost 2 hours to kill.

I started by checking the information brochure. My dad (and Marshal’s) worked at the Pokémon Academy, where I go to school, but retired after Atty was born. I had everything pretty much memorized, but I hadn’t been to high school before. I checked the high school section, and pretty much matched the middle school part, except you got to choose your subjects after a couple of months.

I played video games for a bit, then doodled on my sketchpad. Seeing that it was 9:45 by then, I tiptoed to the bathroom (Atty was asleep), brushed my teeth, then back to my bedroom. Putting the encyclopedia that I had almost forgotten in my bag (whoops), I tucked myself in and drifted off to sleep, thinking calmly for the day to come.

——————————————————————————————————

My alarm clock woke me up at 7 on the dot. I quickly ran to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, changed into my outfit (dark blue sweatpants and a bright blue scarf which I left on top of my bags), then fixed myself some breakfast. My dad came into the kitchen just as I tucked in. He smiled. “Looks like you’re getting a head start on self-care, buddy.” He patted me on the back. I checked the clock: 7:45. I still had time before the train left our stop at 11 am. So I took my time. Finished breakfast. Checked my bags (now I’m positive that I have everything) and carried them into the living room. Helped Atty with hers. And when all that was said and done, I still had just over 2 hours left. I mean, we’d leave half an hour before, but I still had 90 whole minutes to kill. So while Atty turned on some cartoons, I checked my messages.

Irwin (8:41 pm): Don’t forget anything yourself, Ocean. Lol

Brutus (9:12 pm): You too, dude!

I smiled. It was nice to see that my friends were doing fine. Then I received a message from Marshal, which was when I remembered that the train left his stop at 9 am.

Marshal (9:01 am): On train. Cya soon!

And I still had so much time left. I grabbed another sketchpad from my supply in case I ran out, and doodled away. It feels like when I draw, I lose all track of time, because before you knew it, Atty was dragging me over to the front door. I put my sketch pads into my left shell, grabbed my bags, and sat in the backseat of my dad’s car, I glanced at Atty fiddling with her car seat.

The car ride was quiet. I mostly just stared out the window at the roads and pedestrians, but soon enough we were there. First, Dad led us to the baggage compartment, and put our luggage where they belonged. Then he turned round and kissed us both on the cheek. “I’ll miss you guys.”

“You too, Dad.” I replied. He waved goodbye, and I sent Atty over to the primary school section, then boarded the train. Shifting my carry-on bag’s weight on my shoulder, I looked round at the expansive and seemingly luxurious train carriage. I was thinking where Marshal might be in this big place, when someone bolted through the door and right into me. “Yah!”

“Sorry, mate!” It was Irwin, in all his competitiveness. He speaks with a bit of an accent. “Didn’t see ya there.”

“Hey.” I replied. He didn’t really mean it, I knew it. He’s also pretty strong, and a lot bigger than me, sooo… not gonna mess with him.

“Ya seen any of the others?” Nope, I told him. I just got on after all. The train doors close, and we lurched forward a bit. Then I heard a voice not too far off.

“Psst. Ocean.” I turned around. Irwin was halfway down the carriage, already blending in with some other Pokémon, and Marshal was in a compartment not too far away. I slid in and found him with two others. I took a deep breath. I’ve heard that high school officially starts when you meet someone you’ve never met before. Here we go again!

End of Chapter 1